Exodus (2)
Message Six
The Covenanting God and His Covenants (1) Major Covenants That God Made with Man
Scripture Reading: Gen. 3:15; 9:8-17; Gal. 3:14, 16, 29; 2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Exo. 24:1-8
I. The covenant that God made with fallen man can be seen with the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15:
A. Christ as the seed of the woman refers to the incarnated Christ, the complete God becoming a perfect man through the dispensing of Himself into humanity in order to destroy Satan and to save the believers in Christ from sin and death—v. 15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:16, 20-21, 23; Gal. 4:4; John 1:1, 14; 8:58; Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:53-57.
B. "God sent forth His Son, born of a woman," for our judicial redemption; God "sent forth the Spirit of His Son," the transfiguration of His Son, to "sonize" us for our organic salvation— Gal. 4:4, 6; 3:13-14.
C. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of the woman, dispensed into us to bruise the serpent's head in us and to make us the corporate seed of the woman, the overcoming man-child, to carry out God's judgment on the ancient serpent and to be God's dispensational instrument to change the age and usher in the manifestation of God's kingdom—Rev. 12:5.
D. The Lord as the leading Overcomer (3:21) is the Head, center, reality, life, and nature of the man-child, and the man-child as the following overcomers is the Lord's Body:
1. The way to become the man-child is for us to be daily strengthened into our inner man, to be empowered to experience the riches of Christ, and to be strong through put- ting on the all-inclusive Christ as the armor, taking the word by means of all prayer—Eph. 3:8-9, 16; 6:10-20.
2. The spontaneous life-power of Christ as the life-seed bruises the serpent's head in us as we employ the blood of the Lamb, speak forth the word of our testimony, and love not our soul-life even unto death—Rom. 8:2; Rev. 12:10-11; Acts 1:8.
II. God's covenant with Noah and the rainbow as a sign of His covenant signify that we are the church of the covenant, living in the reality of the new covenant of grace—Gen. 9:8-17:
A. The rainbow around God's throne signifies that God is the covenanting God, the faithful God, who will keep His covenant while executing His judgment upon the earth—Rev. 4:3; Ezek. 1:26-28.
B. The three primary colors of the rainbow are blue (the color of the sapphire throne, which signifies God's righteousness—v. 26; Psa. 89:14); red (the color of the sanctifying f ire, which signifies God's holiness—Ezek. 1:4, 13, 27; Heb. 12:29); and yellow (the color of the glowing electrum, which signifies God's glory—Ezek. 1:4, 27; Heb. 1:3):
1. Christ died on the cross to satisfy the requirements of God's righteousness, holiness, and glory and was resurrected to be our righteousness, holiness, and glory—Gen. 3:24; 1 Cor. 1:30.
2. Christ Himself, signified by the rainbow of righteousness, holiness, and glory, is the covenant of God given to His people—Isa. 42:6; Heb. 8:10-12.
3. Christ is wisdom to us from God, transmitting Himself into us as righteousness (that we might be reborn in our spirit), sanctification (that we might be transformed in our soul), and redemption (that we might be transfigured in our body)—1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 8:10; 12:2; 8:23; Eph. 5:25-27.
4. In eternity as the New Jerusalem (a city whose foundations have the appearance of a rainbow—Rev. 21:19-20), we will be a rainbow to testify of God's faithfulness to carry out His new covenant in making us exactly the same as He is as righteousness, holiness, and glory—vv. 10-11.
5. The spiritual reality of this rainbow should be manifest in the church today—we need to allow God to f ill us with His presence of righteousness by giving Him the full opportunity to work in us as the f ire of holiness for His splendor of glory through us—1 Cor. 1:30.
C. The rainbow is a sign of God's faithfulness in keeping His covenant that there will be no more judgment of death; we must live under the new covenant and not believe in any failure, weakness, darkness, or negative thing; we are the covenanted people, and we have a verse of promise to meet every situation—Lam. 3:22-23; Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Tim. 1:10; 2:1; Jude 24; 1 John 1:9; 1 Cor. 1:9.
D. All of the New Testament realities of Christ typified in the life and work of Noah have been covenanted to us—cf. Gen. 6:8, 13-18; 8:4, 18; John 10:28-29; 1 Pet. 3:20-21; Rom. 6:3-4.
III. The covenant God made with Abraham is that Christ as the seed of Abraham is for the blessing to all the families of the earth; the unique seed of Abraham as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit—Gen. 12:2-3, 7; 17:7-8; Gal. 3:14, 16, 29; 1 Cor. 15:45b; John 12:24:
A. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of Abraham, the seed of Abraham, dispensed into us to make us the sons of Abraham, the corporate seed of Abraham, those who can receive and inherit the consummated Spirit as the blessing of Abraham—Gal. 3:7, 14; 4:28:
1. The physical aspect of the blessing that God promised to Abraham was the good land (Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:8), which is a type of the all-inclusive Christ as the all-inclusive life- giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17).
2. Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the blessing of Abraham (Gal. 3:14), the reality of both the seed of Abraham and the good land promised to Abraham; our blessing today is God Himself, who is embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit to be dispensed into us for our enjoyment.
B. By the hearing of faith, we can continually receive Christ as the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit for His growth in us as the seed of Abraham and for our enjoyment of Him as the land promised to Abraham—vv. 2, 5; 2 Cor. 4:13:
1. To receive the Spirit we need to have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev. 2:7; cf. Heb. 5:11-14); the measure of the Spirit that can be dispensed into our in- ward parts depends on the measure of our hearing (Mark 4:23-25; Matt. 13:14-16; 5:3, 8; Luke 10:38-42).
2. We need to be one with Christ as the Slave-Savior by loving Him to the uttermost and taking Him as our absolute consecration, giving Him the way to open our ear to hear His divine instructions, His fresh messages, which dispense the divine Spirit into us for our service to God in our spirit in the gospel of His Son—Exo. 21:1-6; Isa. 50:4-5; Phil. 3:3; John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 1:9.
IV. The covenant God made with David is that the resurrected Christ as the seed of David carries out God's New Testament economy for the dispensing of the processed Triune God into the members of His Body—2 Sam. 7:12-14a; Rom. 1:3-4; Psa. 89:3, 28:
A. The Lord of David in His divinity, the Root of David, was incarnated to become the son of David, the Offspring of David, in His humanity, to be the last Adam; and the last Adam, the son of David, was resurrected to become the firstborn Son of God and the life-giving Spirit, a transfigured descendant of David, dispensed into us to make us the many sons of God and co-kings of Christ—Matt. 22:41-46; Rev. 22:16; John 1:14; 1 Cor. 15:45b; John 12:24; Rom. 8:28-29; Acts 13:33; Rom. 5:17.
B. The Lord of David became the son of David to accomplish God's judicial redemption; the son of David (the seed of David) became the firstborn Son of God as the life-giving Spirit to carry out God's organic salvation.
C. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us as God's sure mercies, His eternal covenant, for our enjoyment—Isa. 55:1-3, 6-11; Acts 13:33-35.
D. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, dispensed into us for us to share His kingship in His resurrection in the eternal kingdom of God—2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6.
E. The resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit is the transfigured descendant of David, the seed of David, the seed of the kingdom, dispensed into us to make us the sons of the kingdom, reigning in life to live in the reality of the kingdom so that we may be translated by Him and return with Him in the manifestation of the kingdom as the corporate smiting stone to annihilate the kingdoms of this world and become a great mountain, the kingdom of God, that f ills the whole earth—Mark 4:26; Matt. 13:18-23, 38; Heb. 11:5-6; Gen. 5:21-24; Dan. 2:34-35.
V. The law had been decreed on the mountain of God, but there was still the need for the law with its ordinances to be enacted as a covenant—Exo. 24:1-8:
A. God's eternal purpose is to have a people to be His counterpart, His expression, and His dwelling place; in order to fulfill this purpose, God must impart Himself into His chosen people and work Himself into them:
1. From the very beginning it was not God's intention to give man commandments to keep or to have man do things for Him; likewise, in bringing the children of Israel to the mountain of God, it was not God's intention to give them a list of divine commandments as requirements for them to fulfill.
2. Rather, His intention was to bring His people into His presence so that He could reveal Himself to them and impart Himself into them through His speaking to them—cf. 34:28-29.
3. God's people, however, did not understand His intention; their natural, fallen, and religious concept was that God wanted them to do certain things for Him, and they thought they were able to do these things—19:8; 24:3, 7.
4. Since this was their concept, it was necessary for God to give them commandments, enacting the law (the old covenant) to show them how high His requirements are and how unable to fulfill these requirements they were—Rom. 8:3, 7-8.
B. In the new covenant the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us spontaneously and unconsciously by our walking according to our mingled spirit with the inward working of the law of the Spirit of life—vv. 4, 2.